Just Some Personal Thoughts

"Things escalated to the point where, my man got too familiar, and I ended up having to whoop his ass...Because, he would step across the line....habitually...he's a habitual line stepper!" - Charlie Murphy on Rick James

Okay, so I have, well had, this friend, we'll call him Joe, who is guilty of habitual line stepping. Now, I'm not gonna sit up here and front like I've never crossed the line and said some out of pocket stuff to folks, because I have, even to Joe. The only difference is that I don't make this a regular occurrence, whereas he does. Plus, I say that I'm sorry...he doesn't.

Now, Joe and I have a history, so he's not some extra random guy that I would spend my days talking to via IM. He was good for a debate, but he played dirty. Because I knew him on a personal level, I guess he thought he could just talk to me any kind of way. And like Charlie Murphy stated before, he got way too familiar. Usually when that stuff happens, you have one of two options. You can...

a. let it roll off your back or
b. let the person know about himself/herself

Normally when Joe and I talked, it was usually a back and forth banter on whatever issue we felt like chatting over. It could've been politics, music, sports or something extremely random. A lot of the ish he said I let slide, because he's the type of guy that would argue up and down that the sky was green as long as he believed it was. Although I am human, and sometimes my feelings get hurt, I almost never let Joe have the satisfaction of making me upset or getting in any type of my feelings about what he says to me. But a few Fridays ago was just a so-so day from jump. When I woke up that morning, I realized that it was definitely on the wrong side, and 30 minutes into my day I had already developed a headache. It wasn't even 9 am yet when Joe hits me up on instant messenger.

I'm the type of person thats open to a good debate, moreover, a legitimate one. But one thing I do my best to refrain from doing is arguing with fools that pick fights, which is what Joe would do. So he's trying to egg me into an argument about some male chauvinistic mess he started on a blog. He and I already had a discussion about his wack comment, and I posted a reply to the blog the day prior. It wasn't anything I took to bed with me the night before, nor was it anything I was thinking about the next day. But, because I think, no, I KNOW he has some insecurity issues, he attempts to get some base in his voice on me at 8:45 in the morning claiming that my argument was "lazy". I explained to him very clearly that I didn't give two rats asses about it and that he should just drop it.

The ish really just came out of nowhere. I expected him to be all giddy because his girlfriend was moving in with him the next day (that's a whole 'nother story), not riding my ass about a fashion blog. So, beyond being pissed, I was genuinely caught off guard. What's even crazier is this is just the tip of the iceberg.

By the end of the day, he had worked my nerves from the first to the last one. We ended up on the topic of how things were going to be "changing" now that his girlfriend was moving in (again, a conversation initiated by him). And basically he's like, well you can't call me, you can't see me anymore. First of all, I live hundreds of miles from this cat, so it's not like I'm gonna be randomly hitting him up any day of the week on some "let's kick it" business. Joe is someone I can certainly handle, and enjoy the company of, but only in small doses. Secondly, I rarely ever call him in the first place. Not to mention that the last time I really had a conversation with him, his ass was on the phone crying like a little beeyatch, because his girlfriend was having second thoughts about moving in with him (not even on some, I'm having second thoughts about being with you). And for his sake, because I know his behind reads my blog, I won't even say what other convos have been had via phone...or what happened last time I did see him. **So over it.**

At this point, he had the nerve to give me some type of ultimatum of "well, either we just talk on IM or go our separate ways". I must have surprised him when I went for the latter cuz at that point he, in lay men's terms, actually begins to beg. His pleas were laced with backhanded compliments and subliminal insults. I'm sittin at the comp with this look on my face just like Charlie Murphy did when Rick slapped him. Like "is this fool really talking to me like this?". Again, I had to break ish down to him that I will take the highway every single time when it comes up against "your way", especially if it's unreasonable. I have no problem sacrificing and compromising, but never will I be completely yielding to anyone's authority. Who does this kid think he is anyway?

Funny thing about this is that he, along with all the other habitual line steppers in this world, for some strange reason seem to think that he's not expendable. Sure, I cared about the kid, because that's just my personality, I care about people, and I think it's pretty inhumane not to. But I am way too old to be playing high school relationship/communication games with anybody. Everytime this dude gets a new girlfriend, which seems to be like, quarterly throughout the year, he acts brand new. And I had to cuss him out the last time he tried to pull this card on me. He's a few years older than I, and I'm just like, "you call yourself grown?!". I didn't even do this ish when I was in high school, so what business do you have doing this years out of college!!!

We all have issues and character flaws. That goes without question. There's a multitude of other recognizable things going on with Joe, that I really can't blame him for. But, I don't know, it's something about someone who's continually crossing the line. That carelessness and recklessness in over-stepping a boundary. The audacity that makes them feel that they're just big enough to do it. Which ultimately leads to their level of comfort in doing so. Joe's ego is as inflated as Ron Burgundy in Anchorman. But based upon what I've heard about him elsewhere, he's really just wack, sad and lame. And sometimes, when I catch myself thinking about Joe (why lie, I still do), I feel sorry for him. I feel sorry for someone who's created this fantasy land and character in which they live because of a desire to be someone completely different than who they really are. That's a game in life that I have a really difficult time respecting. When dealing with a person like that, people are either annoyed or appeasing, and therein lies no loyalty. You're like a charity case friend, like Tai in Clueless. The only reason they haven't been dropped is because people view them as an investment of some sort. Or a resource pool they can tap into when they want something. While that may be okay for getting ahead in your career, that ish doesn't translate well into personal relationships. Simply put, that's a line that needs to be drawn, never to be crossed. But, I guess Joe wouldn't know much about that. Even though Joe will swear up and down that he has "enough friends", he certainly lost out a good friend. And even though Joe would say that I'm "so damn opinionated", he always got the raw deal. Always the truth. He may disagree, but I always had his best interest at heart, even when I said something that would be in direct opposition or would make him upset. That's how people that care about me are with me, and vice versa. He got lucky this time, but one of these days, he'll cross the wrong line with the wrong person. Because of that, I especially feel sorry for what awaits him. You always reap what you sow. It always comes back ten-fold. The good and the bad.

That's full circle. No lines to cross there.

Oh well, I said my piece. Time to move on...

On A Lighter Note, I peeped my homegirl Lola doing this on her blog, so I had to go and be a copycat lol.

TMI Tuesdays- basically I just honestly answer these questions, and you all get to amuse yourselves.

1. What did you eat for dinner yesterday?
A cheeseburger and fries

2. How much cash is in your purse/wallet right now?
A couple hundred dollars (I need to go to the bank, soon.)

3. What have you done to avoid being flirted with by someone you didn't like?
Didn't acknowledge their presence...like, not looking in their direction or making eye contact, pretending to be busy.

4. Do you believe the theory "Once a cheater always a cheater"?
No, not once. But just like my habitual line-stepper story, if they do it once, they'll probably do it again.

5. Describe your sex life in two words.
On vacation.

Bonus (as in optional): Would you/have you ever paid money for sex?
Lord, no. Why pay for what you can get for free?